Carpal Tunnel

[Eppy]

Yes, this thing is taking unimaginably long to do. It has crashed and burned not once, not twice, but no less than four times so far on three different models.

That said, because I am a persistent SOB and school is over for me in two days, I took the liberty of making a completely new model from the ground up. The first model died a horrible death in the Gmax phase; the second turned into the original 4.84 Outcast Battleship; the third became the current design base, but the model proved unworkable in May of last year for some reason:



The fourth model was made as a replacement on those same design lines, but I wasn't very satisfied with it:



The lines don't flow very well, as you can see. It's not comprehensive like the first one, and appears squashed to a degree (because it was originally about twice as long. I overcompensated, so it looks fugly whence scaled back). So, I revised it yet again, taking the superstructure concept from the original and integrating it with a differently styled stern, employing a slightly more stylistic and less "Klingon d*ldo-ish" approach, as Lohingren liked to call it (and I disposed of the area known as the Lohingren joint, named in his honor because he liked to complain about it so much:laugh:). The Maltese Cross count is currently at four, up from two on the previous models, and may actually rise to six if I think it will look good. I was originally going to include some kind of rounded plates towards the stern to allude to the old Dreadnought, but I decided against it. I decided to reuse the Artificial Quantum Singularity Drive idea from the Destroyer and scale it up, which is why the engine core is so exposed.

So, questions, comments, constructive criticism? Please keep in mind that the model is not finished; the fine details and the cleaning have yet to be done because a simpler model makes structural changes easier if significant improvements are suggested/implemented.











This cake is not a lie. I'll be texturing it myself this time with huge help from Gurjiv, assuming he's still in on this (It's been about a month since the Dreadnought came up). Hopefully we can have it ready for the auto-updater in a month or two.

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Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen

Which Dreadnought was that?

One of your nine.

[Montezuma/Kukulcan]

I am in utter and total support of this, epic work! The blimp seriously needs to be sent to the junkers and not come back! I especially think that the front and middle sections looks like a perfect 'up-scale' of the current BS, which, imo is a bit big for its stats. If that is made as the new OC dread, i think i'll save up for one just to fly that!

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[Turkish]

Gah, stop adding the Maltese Cross to every model!

Guarantee it is going to stick out.

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I have a fetish for all things Norse.

[Eppy]

Gah, stop adding the Maltese Cross to every model!

Guarantee it is going to stick out.

...that's the point.:P

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Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen

Which Dreadnought was that?

One of your nine.

[Sprolf]

This is absolutely brilliant, Eppy, an almost perfect Outcast Dreadnought.

My only problem with it is that the multitude of steps makes it look like a pyramid... it just strikes me as a little too much. The pyramid shape is probably why Montezuma likes it so much... almost looks like an Aztec temple.

I'm not entirely sure if that's what the Outcast ships really look like...
I think you need to round a few things off to make this look less... well... Aztec-y, in my opinion.


The hexagonical shape is certainly a little more pleasing to the eye, but the lowest tier below the bridge sticks out too far. Steps and such are good, but this is just a few too many. Try bigger steps and less levels.

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[Seth Karlo]

Sorry man, I dislike it. I think it looks too small at the moment, and when you scale it correctly it'll just look silly. Also, the current dread has been balanced due to it's large shape, making it look like a modified version of the Lib Dread (and yet looking smaller than the Lib dread) is a completely different tack.

I don't see any reseblence to any other Outcast Ship right now either... I don't think cylindrical is the right way to go.

I apologise for not liking it, but I feel I have backed up my points constructively.

Seth

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Signature by Sleipnir.

[Dab]

I'm assuming the blue one is the newest model;

The area right in front of the engine needs a bit more armor plating. The underside has a 'hole' where you can see the inside and the pole connected to the engine. In my opinion, this would be armored up, as a single bomber could fly in, hit that, and destroy the engine and possibly the ship. (In RP/Realism that is, not in normal game, but a ship's design should be based on RP circumstances.) It also just doesn't look right with a big giant hole in the side, right next to the ship's most vulnerable spot.

Also, the area where it becomes a hexagon around the bridge needs made a little bit longer. Keep the bridge ~2/3rds towards the back, but elongate the hexagone so that it goes forward a bit more. With the side edges being longer than the other edges.

Lastly, the 4 prongs on the tip of the nose either need moved back a bit, or the tip itself made a tiny bit longer. Currently the prongs make the tip look all squashed, like a Boston Terrier's (type of dog) face.. This seems a bit out of place considering all of the Outcast and BW ships end in a point. Sabre has it's nose, Dagger, Stiletto have the same, the Trident and OC BS also have points at the front.

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[Eppy]

This is absolutely brilliant, Eppy, an almost perfect Outcast Dreadnought.

My only problem with it is that the multitude of steps makes it look like a pyramid... it just strikes me as a little too much. The pyramid shape is probably why Montezuma likes it so much... almost looks like an Aztec temple.

I'm not entirely sure if that's what the Outcast ships really look like...
I think you need to round a few things off to make this look less... well... Aztec-y, in my opinion.
The hexagonical shape is certainly a little more pleasing to the eye, but the lowest tier below the bridge sticks out too far. Steps and such are good, but this is just a few too many. Try bigger steps and less levels.

Can't do fewer levels and bigger steps, I'm afraid, it would look too small. I think I stretched the limit a bit as is, it might need scaling down a bit.

Also, it should be noted that the design is supposed to be mildly suggestive of a number of motifs - It's a gargantuan monster, a small city in space, so I thought the Aztec Temple theme wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It's also supposed to allude to the Coptic cross and an old sea Dreadnought circa WWI.

I did take the bridge suggestion, though, moved the two tiers underneath is farther back so the incline is much, much sharper, almost vertical.

Sorry man, I dislike it. I think it looks too small at the moment, and when you scale it correctly it'll just look silly. Also, the current dread has been balanced due to it's large shape, making it look like a modified version of the Lib Dread (and yet looking smaller than the Lib dread) is a completely different tack.

I don't see any reseblence to any other Outcast Ship right now either... I don't think cylindrical is the right way to go.

I apologise for not liking it, but I feel I have backed up my points constructively.

Seth

I can understand that. Unfortunately, you'll find that cylindrical is the way to go in this case. Take a survey of the original Freelancer Battleships - Bretonian, Liberty Dreadnought, Kusari Battleship, Rheinland Battleship, Nomad Battleship - what do they all have in common? They are all either focused vertically (Kusari/Liberty), focused cylindrically (Nomad), or only slightly horizontally oblated (Rheinland/Bretonian). The reason for this is their size - the designers didn't like using flattened concepts, and I think that epithet works pretty well. Obviously it's not universal, because some ships have certainly worked out the flat aspect well enough (Outcast Destroyer, Corsair Dreadnought, Zoner Juggernaut, etc), but the flat aspect doesn't go over too well with the Outcast design, as I learned when I made the original Outcast Battleship (which was supposed to be the Destroyer). It can be made to look smaller, but I want to take it in-game once its skinned first and see that. After that we can see if the model needs changing (I don't think it will; the windows aren't going to be as wide as the superstructure would indicate, they'll have some small border).

And I should probably mention that it's supposed to allude to the Liberty Dreadnought. Always has, always will. Liberty technology is very successful, and I chose to imitate it for the Outcasts. I like the way it looks.

EDIT:

I'm assuming the blue one is the newest model;

The area right in front of the engine needs a bit more armor plating. The underside has a 'hole' where you can see the inside and the pole connected to the engine. In my opinion, this would be armored up, as a single bomber could fly in, hit that, and destroy the engine and possibly the ship. (In RP/Realism that is, not in normal game, but a ship's design should be based on RP circumstances.) It also just doesn't look right with a big giant hole in the side, right next to the ship's most vulnerable spot.

Also, the area where it becomes a hexagon around the bridge needs made a little bit longer. Keep the bridge ~2/3rds towards the back, but elongate the hexagone so that it goes forward a bit more. With the side edges being longer than the other edges.

Lastly, the 4 prongs on the tip of the nose either need moved back a bit, or the tip itself made a tiny bit longer. Currently the prongs make the tip look all squashed, like a Boston Terrier's (type of dog) face.. This seems a bit out of place considering all of the Outcast and BW ships end in a point. Sabre has it's nose, Dagger, Stiletto have the same, the Trident and OC BS also have points at the front.

I've thought about that. I'm considering adding more armor, but it would require a bit of work, which I don't feel like doing at the moment because of finals and chores, so I'll look into it later. Also, the engine core is made of solid Neutronium (none of this tacky superalloy stuff), so it can basically take an effectively infinite number of direct hits from anything. Even if the rest of the ship gets blown up, there's a chance that the Neutronium structure will survive when the rear half of the vessel gets sucked into its engine core (if it isn't shut down by the emergency systems, which you'd think it would be).

I tried expanding the hexagonal structure when I was building the base frame. It does NOT look good. Trust me.

Implemented the prong lengthening suggestion.

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Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen

Which Dreadnought was that?

One of your nine.

[Exile]

First thought ; Wow, that's a BIGASS forward cannon.

Nice going Morgansky, epic:)Might just get one if the texture be done propperly.

(Yeah, I want a(nother) big ship <_< One that ain't shared)

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[Montezuma/Kukulcan]

My only problem with it is that the multitude of steps makes it look like a pyramid... it just strikes me as a little too much. The pyramid shape is probably why Montezuma likes it so much... almost looks like an Aztec temple.

What i would do to change this, is make the top 2 steps and bottom 2 steps joined (as in a flat slope between them, instead of the square step). Apart from that, everything is about perfect that i can see!

P.S. It would seem that sprolf is right, that was the first thing i noticed when i looked at it 'hmm, looks like a pyramid' i thought!

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